Gov. Rick Perry is defending his policy of allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at state colleges and universities, saying the lack of a cohesive federal immigration policy forced his hand.

Perry told CNBC in an interview Thursday that "we need to have an immigration policy that's thoughtful."

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The Republican says that when he embraced the concept of tuition assistance in 2001 for illegal immigrants, he believed "it was in the best interest of our state to have these young people educated than kicking them to the curb."

Perry also says that if elected president, he would solve the problem of drug trafficking, illegal immigration and violence along the southern border of the United States. He declares that "we will stop the drug cartels and we will stop the illegal immigration."

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A day earlier, Perry told Newsmax.TV that he apologized for saying last week during a GOP debate that: "If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart."